Cover and logo design by Emrbara Prentieo OIRourke, formerly of Rose and Thorn Itorria, now l iving in Oxfordshire, England.

8@@@@@@@9@@ Volume 8, Number 3

Notes from t h e Editors ---- The cold north winds and f i r s t snows a r e s e t t l i n g i n up here

i n t h e Upper Midwest fo rc ing t h e r e t r e a t of the morris indoors f o r the durat ion. To keep t h e memories f resh , we review i n t h i s i s s u e t h e a l e s of t h e p a s t season, two tours of England, along with the usual team news we have received. We a l s o introduce another new r e g u l a r f e a t u r e sec t ion . I t ' s c a l l e d .Other Than Cotswald Morrism - an at tempt t o broaden t h e general knowledge base of what e l s e e x i s t s i n England which goen by the name of morris. Roy Donunett has supplied much of t h e mater ial f o r us. He w i l l be joined by o t h e r s from time t o time.

Cheers 1

Team N e w s -- This regu la r f e a t u r e of AMN is t o t a l l y dependent on YOU.

P lease keep us r e g u l a r l y informed of a l l your a c t i v i t i e . - both t h e good and t h e bad.

MORRIS DANCERS AVOID ARREST * ---- :: Seventeen morris dancers almost go t a r r e s t e d on September 2

a t t h e a l e held a t t h e Minnesota Renaissance Fes t iva l while t r y i n g t o g e t c lean.

The inc iden t occurred when t h e dancers, who had been dancing f o r two days with no access t o showers, decided t o go skinny dipping (and bathing!) i n a lake f i v e miles from the f e s t i v a l grounds. Unfortunately, t h e lake was a l s o r i g h t o f f a highway, and t h e r i g h t proved too much f o r S c o t t County res iden ts . Someone c a l l e d t h e cops, and one a r r ived j u s t a s most of the dancers f in i shed dressing.

H e had managed t o glimpse some sk in on t h r e e of the people, however, and t h e s i g h t proved t o be too much. H e s ingled these t h r e e ou t t o ask f o r names and i d e n t i f i c a t i o n (which only one person had). A l l t h e dancers accompanied the t h r e e t o t h e top of t h e h i l l , where t h e squad c a r was parked, t o hear a l e c t u r e on t h e p o t e n t i a l of cor rup t ing ch i ld ren who might happen t o be b icyc l ing down t h e highway. (No mention was made of the p o t e n t i a l f o r acc iden ts , however, by d r i v e r s rubbernecking on t h e i r way home from work.)

A l l of t h e morris t e a r s a t t h e A l e who had more than one' rson a t tend ing were represented a t t h e near bus t , with t h e c a p t i o n of t h e Winnepeg .en. who ware performing a t t h e t i m e . f t e r which, runor has it. they went o f f t o t h e same lake t o ' ke t h e i r baths...)

ce H i l l Morris. Philadelphia. PA

Spruce n i l 1 Morris is still going s t r i n g , though weave

welcome any paaserr through t o j o i n u r a t our p r a c t i c e s a t 7r00 P.H. on Nondaya. C a l l me a t (215)886-6940 between 9am and SF.

l l a r i lou m i n e s Kaubin, Bagman. 431 Covered Bridge Rd.. Cherry B i l l . Hew J e r s e y 08034

This Fall and Winter will include a vigorous review of our Fieldtown dances, with perhaps a bit of Bampton and Border Morris.

Much luck, warm fires and pots of ale for all morris teams this winter season.

Jennifer M.S. Byrne, 122 Redfield PI, Syracuse, N.Y. 13210

Westerly Morris Men, Westerly, R.I.

ED.-(These observations have been excerpterd by the editors from the monthly issues of the Westerly Morris Newsletter.) Westerly reports two surprise parties, one for Wally Fenn (who is retiring) and one for Everett Munro. Plans seem to be underway for another tour of England as letters are beginning to research potential host sites. They had no rehearsals in August. They danced the 4th Annual Harbor Day in Norwich; were confused as to whether or not they were to be invited to the Annual Cambridge Tour with Pinewoods Morris Men; spent a weekend with Juggler Meadow in Western Massachusetts; and, finally, preparations are underway for a Twelfth Night performance in Westerly on January 5 6 6.

George H. Utter, Bagman, 54 Elm Street, Westerly, R.I. 02891

1984 Morris Ales ---

Midwest Morris Ale --- Out in the "great American desert" beyond the pale of

Pennsylvannia, west of West Virginia, there is a peripatetic morris event that grows more rich and various with each passing year. In 1984, Indiana's Bloomington Quarry morris hosted the event in the first sultry breezes of Summer in a beautiful state park in Southern Indiana. In attendance were Bloomington, Maroon Bells Morris (Boulder, CO), Castlewood Morris Women (Lexington, KY), Lexington Morris Men, Sourwood Morris (Knoxsville, TN), Cornstalk Morris (Champaign-Urbanna, IL), a few Fox Valley Men (Chicigo), Ann Arbor Morris 6 Sword (Michigan), Greenwood Morris (East Lansing, MI), Oak Apple (Madison, WI), Bells-of-the-North and Minnesota Traditional Morris (MinneapolisISt. Paul, MN) and Capering Roisters (St. Louis, MO). The teams toured the Blooming- ton area and showed those aspiring musicians at Indiana Univer- sity a thing or two about mashing out tunes on melodeons, harmon- izing on hurdy-gurdies and the like. The odd bit of guerilla theatre and a long informal session on Monday morning of Memorial Day weekend adorned the proceedings. In 1985 the fifth annual Midwest Ale will occur in Minnesota's Twin Cities to be sponsored by Minnesota's Bells-of-the-North and MTM. In 1986 the event will again enjoy relatively Southern hospitality at the hands of the Capering Roisters of St. Louis.

The Killer Ale --- - - 3 - -* The 1984 Northwest "Kill'er Alem was held o m - t h e Labor ~ a y w

weekend. Teams from Vancouver, B.C., Seattle, and Portland bravek the sunny, sea-breezy weather in some of the most beautiful costal settings imaginable to astonish xeaidents of Indianola, Kingston, Suquanish, Lynwodl and Winslow with fabulous forays# great galleys, high hankies, and real round rounds. After the tours, a procession and mass dance in Kingston attracted an especially large and responsive crowd. Dance traditions included Bledington, Bidford, Ducklington, Fieldtown, Banpton, Upton-on- Severn, and Adderbury.

Hosted by Seattle's Mossyback Morris Hen and organized by Bob Greco and John Uauk, the ale included Misty City Morris and Mad Cap Morris also of Seattle, the Vancouver Morris Men, and

iny Capers Morris from Portland. The tours around the island re followed by one of the great gustatory events of our tine: a

PEAST at which delectables such as stuefed mushrooms, melon with prosciutto, canneloni, barbecued salmon, wine-sauteed carrots, fruit, trifle, and other treats too marvelous to mention comeleted with Redhook Ale. Blackhook Ale. Ballard Bitter. wine and- the infamous pan qalactic gargleiblasters (served in -laberatory test tubes) for the palates of sidemates. The Northwest's first ale concluded on Sunday with dancing by all teams on the ferryboat ride back to Seattle.

Morris Madness -- Ti-& Minesota Renaissance Festival joined in celebrating

MTM's tenth anniversary this Fall by designating the Labor Day Weekend a festival of *Morris MadnessH and sponsoring a major tour by ten teams and several individuals. Among the highlights of the weekend were getting to know many fine morris folk from Colorado, a contribution of hone brewed draft stout by Jim Linton, and assumptiion of the cloak Renaissance license by all. Celebrants included both Minnesota sides, Oak Apple (Madison,

), Prairie Waves (Omaha, RE), Maroon Bells and Circle Weavers olorado) , Village Green Morris Men (Winnepeg, nanitoba, nada), Windy City Mrris and Pox Valley (Chicago, IL), and

Capering Roisters (St. Muis, MO). Visitors from'afar included Rayna Alsberg and Peggy Gerber from Ann Arbor, Nancy Winneg of New Hampshire's Merrie Hac Uorris, several members of a country dance troupe in Kenora, Ontario called the Laclu Dancers, and Lynn Noel, late of Ha'penny Morris and subsequently an Oak Apple dancer. The Festival felt the event was successful enough that they may continue their co-sponsorship.

Second Annual Mixed Morris Ale,W?ods Hole, MA&-:- -*

Memorial Day weekend, 1984, arrived enshrouded Rather than dampen the spirits of parts of seven morris teams which had descended upon Woods Hole the previous evening, it evoked the quality of dancing necessary to stave off the rain. We danced all day in the swirling fog. Although the fiddles and concertinas weren't too happy, no one else seemed too perturbed. The Second nixed Mrris Ale organized by the Woods Hole Mrris had begun.

C , " "

Team came from ~ r i e G e t o n , - NJ, Bingh.amton, NY, Por tland/Brunswick& %?$$9pp ~etf-~ay&$$'&~, Merrimack, NH, and a few reEresentakh&es e others teams were thefe f o r a l l o r p a r t of t h e Ale. bnsSs99 A 6 . .rrl'sM

, ".?...' - :::: The event wris a> t h r e e day-orgf of ?Fiel8Eown; 'Bamptbn; BleStF

callers from among t h e morris teams and m u t i c i a n s ~ : f b 6 m ~ ~ B d r a cNe$essities- -,in! '-&OR f knish& bf b~ t h e 6bS&9&al 'Wegtam '' Strbay night . - . - $ . . S - ,. - wr .X - .,--,- 1'.

Monday ra ined s h e e t s o f w a t & , ~ t we doggedly went do- €6' ~ y a n n i 5 to-1-d t#r Memorial -Day parade -and dance for those brave e n o u g h s ~ o ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ y l , XM *em' as-vh-*m- up to ZClancC, ou% fromi uader wtr ponchos, ufibrel.l&a and ra incoa ts , t h e r a i n Wogped.e'iWWS it=- *at* y&a:Mill. bat t h a F f l s 9 whh.L thepefaed. I t poured a l l t h w g h t h e Memorial bay eulogy b y 3 R @ I - ~ d a n d e r o f t h e loca l A&r%rCe3ase? then we came o u t and it stopped.

- c . - -. . Woods Hole expects t o dQ__a3$ a t l e a s t one more year. But

t h e team is smalt and g e n e r a l l y not of one mind on anything. So m ~ ~ ~ z ~ w h a w o l ~ htzt ell w t i g l t ; m soiii6ti .f~ it S~m~fdwnrigh.tFchaphaPL~dWN mat r h6*.w@d J i t - I d o h 8R=*P4peQ. %mi = ~ a ' i i e ~ o s i ~ the' tairgEou&s, t#e Went'tn Ju ly -t8* ,$anc?e each det@a&Mm'+souwty Sa%t-*a*f ihand$iab~ohdogg1e- a$ .sooh a s w& mt. t&&at.z gqidqWum~.*~xalVre2 Melhorial- Day Pa%at#e,f= Mtich%e4P& &As .*f& W &he; lookuZILker a eur& 'bet. %kit ma@ Seams qsa'n? t:*atay xtkouqh &hda & d u k e t h q have ' too ' f a r - to Brio@ h&meraad"%ea* g e d e ~ b l y & x h a ~ s t s d WZorir-9e e len beg i i g having p a r t i e d and Bbozed 'ol j rselves o u t by Jlonday r n ~ r n i n ~ ~ ~ - ~ - - -* :

2, - Rext year *hope t o s o l i d i f y some rea l . payfng gig/E--of

course Mse .-pay g e t s d iv ided among a l l p resen t , and w e a r e beginning t o loc&t&- 'reaWsowees*of money f o r . a ihow. ~ e n - r o r i ? i s teams is always a show f o r varbus types of t o u r i s t a t t r a c t i o n s and :Mi&- CZqe .z IS, a ' t m r i ' s k at W a ~ t i e n beg4 hh--' nemsrf a i Day SJerkn&- - - _ 2 - r, *-. . ' r . -.-- ' - t , q 7 c , : + - .- f d o > " r - i - . ., . - u r ... %

, - i s W:w& p a t t e d I& the5 r a i B a n t i c i p a t i n g anether yearr hapifi4 t o see even-mor.e:taams meprWen&ed, ldk ihg- foward bekteP.sEandgr b e t t e r weather, and more exchange of dances and songs. Any teams whlch dance RE= ei&her%m ;pt-4#dpZsd 6Ue- tdcikcuiTta7fiQks YSi% w e l C O m d eo c a n t a c t us a t P.O. Box 453, Woods Hole, IU 02543.

Held: Memorial Day Weekend 1985 - 10th Annual Base of operations: Marlboro College, Marlboro, Vermont

Tours throughout Windham County with major shows at Brattleboro and Newfane

# of teams: 11 (or 12) men's teams 6 women's teams (1) garland team

limited to 250 dancers and guests due to the capacity of the college facilities.

Arrive Friday night Saturday - show dances, walking tours of Brattleboro with pub

stops, Saturday night-feast. Sunday - tours of Windham County Monday - Marlboro Olympyk Games Tour groups are cornposed of two men's and one women's teams.

Contact person: Juliana Stevens, Barnegat House, East Alstead, NH 03602 (603) 035-2304

Corrections

"I thank you for including my piece and for the handsome appearance of the paragraphs. Unfortunately, however, you omitted one line of my manuscript, which garbles the content of Exercise 6. The correct sentence is, "Check that your changes have the strength of a morris step, that you are neither prancing with your feet under you nor goose stepping with stiff knees, that Your toes are not ~ointed down ballet stvle nor vointed UD clod style, and that you never land with a plop but'rather hith rebound. "

"Best wishes on all your morris activities."

L.D. Jennings, 80 Clifton St., Belmont, MA 02178

"I would appreciate it if you could pub;lish a correction

the inside foot. I should have said the outside foot."

Mary Johnson, 77 Norwood Ave., Kensington, CA 94707

Letters to the Editor P C - -

Dear Sirs

A8 you are probably aware, I(r Ivor Allsop has, for a long time, been entirely responsible for the upkeep of the Morris Ring Archive, the sole body delegated by the Ring for the keeping of records. About two years ago, the Worshipful Master Fool of the Ring, ~ f s Importance Mr. Morris Sunderland decided 'tg form a Fools Union in order to prevent what he saw as the ero'sion of the rights of the fools in the Ring. But what began as something of a joke among the fools is now beginning to realize a real siqnifi- cance in the Ilorris. With the running of instructional meetings, etc, there is plenty yet to be done by the fools. During one of these meetings, the matter of the history of fools was raised,

.., and I subsequently persued 'the matter artit -Iwr$ It appears that

.-- the Ring Archive has very little on the history of fooling at "i' all, so it was suggested that the fools organize their own arc- - - - hive. As 1 had already obtained the majority of major sources, I

was chosen to start work. I w r has no objections to a separate -- Archive because he has too much work already, and nor

land is looking to get finsncer from-the Ring.

It was ruggested to me, at Thaxted yesterday th try the American teams as you a11 seen so much more in the historical side of the Morris. If you could pass on informa- tion to me about American.foolinq, any obscure reEerences.you m y have found, or details of any American publications I and the fools would be most gratelul.

In addition, I am aware of the difficulties encountered by novice foalr, who are unable to find other fools to learn from, and if any of your fools are interested, please pass on my address to them, because I disagree 8Crongly with th fooling cannot be taught.

Yours faithfully, C. Clarke

;:: .?J. &g, pools union ~rchivist, and tool for st. nary's , A *3.*qt- .< c Spring ~rovm n.n.

Minnesota Traditional Morris' Tour of England

In celebration of its 10th anniversary,- MTM trea to a 2 1/2 week tour of England. Instead of listing observations Iroa our vantage point, ve felt the following

- illurtration created by Fenstantonh Richard Greqson best teprs- , rents England's view of us. A quick list of the gig8 on the tour

include Windsor Morris (June 2 9 ~ 3 0 ) ~ the Benley Royal Regatta with the Royal Alfred Men (July l), the Kennet Uorrir Men outside Reading (July 21, Hammersmith nOrrir Men in London [July I ) , a visit with Morris Sunderland and the Offley Norris Men (July I ) , Arnold Wbodley's mnpton Morris (July 7 -8 ) , Wheatly and Bucknell (July 10) ending with Penatanton Ilorris (Jul 53-15). 20 nTM dancer. were present on the tour. A journel wxth entries by many of the tour member8 was kept and is stored in the side's arch- iver .

8

Pinewoods Morris Men's Trip to England

We finally really did it in 1984. A team trip to England was first discussed at Pinewoods Camp in the summer of 1972, when Karl Rodgers and Peter Leibert spoke to Nibs Mathews about the prospects. A scratch team (that is, an unofficial one) of PMM dancers organized by Roger Cartwright went over in the Spring of 1973. Among other things, they went to Bampton on Whitmnday and attended the Morria Ring meeting in Thaxted. This was the first American Morris team to visit England, but of course there have been many since. Besides Roger that year, there were Fred Breunig, John Dexter, Ed Mason, Sam Rubin, and Dick Van Kleeck, with Andy Wolfe as an extra musician, and they were later joined by Karl Rodgers and Howie Seidel.

There was a short-lived attempt to organize an England trip for the spring or summer of 1979, and then a more serious one for 1900, a delayed celebration of PMM's 15th anniversary year. Unfortunately, this also fell through. But 1984 turned out to be great - after all, it was the 20th year of existence for PMM, the oldest Morris Team in the Western Hemisphere. Dancers and musicians were Dave Arnold, Jon Bosworth, Rich Conant, George Pogg, Michael Havey, Tom Kruskal, John Krzywicki, Ed Mason, Brad Sayler, Terry Tobias, and Chris Walker, a total of 11.

The tour lasted from May 18 to June 3 for most of us. After arriving at Gatwick on May 19, we rented minibuses and headed for Felixstowe on the East Anglia coast, where a folk festival was in progress and where the East Suffolk MM would be our hosts. Next morning we toured in Felixstowe with East Suffolk and with the Seven Champions, a team of Molly Dancers. It rained some, but we danced anyway. That afternoon we danced (indoors) at the folk festival.

The next day we went to Waldringfield, not far away, to dance for Honorary PMM Douglas Kennedy at his home. He is now in his 91st year. We did some dances for the schoolchildren at a nearby hall, where the women accompanying the tour, also perfor- med their Uncle Remus puppet show, a very elaborate affair they had worked up for the tour, including a portable puppet theater. After our visit with Douglas and Liz Kennedy, we went touring that evening with the East Suffolk MM, again in the rain! But we danced anyway - rain or no - with umbrellas protecting the instruments and musicians. So ended our touring in East Suffolk.

Leaving East Suffolk on May -22, we traveled to Henlow, Bedfordshire, the hone of Morris and Barbara Sunderland. He ushered us to a local school where we danced and did a few playparty games for the children. It was back to the Sunderland's home for tea. Some tea! Every available table was covered with food and assorted goodies. We are afraid that Barbara may still be looking for some of her kitchen equipment, as a few of the men cleaned up and put it away.

Then around the corner, as it were, to the Three Cranes Pub , to meet our hosts for the evening, the Bedford MU. Good dancing

outs ide , ancl+IooQYtrinking fnaide, ,They put u s up f o r t h e n igh t , and next dag w e were o f f for Eondcm. Our b ig event t h e r e was dancing a t Westinfnster libhey on Wemesday evening. This is a r e g u l a r Wednesday event , and Morris teams s i g n up i n advance t o do i t . W e danced t h e r e with Woodside MM, and with Whitethorn, a women's northwest morris s ide. Afterwards we a l l adjourned to a boat on t h e Thames t h a t has been made over i n t o a pub, f o r mre dancing. Nibs and Jean Mathews joined us there .

Ne took a couple of days o f f i n London before heading v e s t t o Exeter i a Vevon, where Great Western MH were our hosts. W e d i d t h e c i t y of Exeter on Way 26, and on May 27 went on a .orris tour of thC Dartnoor a r e a , arranged by Great Western. On both days we were joined by o t h e r teams being hosted by Great Western. There were Glory of t h e West, a women's morris team from meter, Iron Hen from Shropshire , a Border Morris team, and a women's team (cl morris) made up of t h e i r wives and g i r l f r i ends , named Severn G g l d e r s . The Iron Hen w e r e mostly very l a r g e lads with a very vigorous s t y l e of dancing. Great Western is a l s o a vigorous s i d e (Cotswold), e s p e c i a l l y no tab le f o r t h e g r e a t e leva t ion they get . Original dances imrentea by Great Western a r e Nine Men's Morris, f o r n ine men of course, a n d F l a s h e r ' s Morris, which we d i d no t g e t t o s e e (good thing*- too) . We d i d our Rapper a t t h e dance p a r t y on one of t h e n i g h t s i n m e t e r , which was wel l received (no mistakes).

On t o Heding ton Quarry, t o t o u r wi th t h e Headington Quarry HI4 and t h e Westminster HM. Big dance p a r t y t h a t night (nay 281, including a r a f f l e t o r a i s e money f o r Headington Quarry MH. Rick Conant won a b o t t l e of scotch. H e s a i d it was t h e f i r s t c o n t e s t h e ' s ever won i n h i s l i f e . We d i d t h e Rapper again. Both Headington Quarry and Westminster a r e noted f o r t h e i r smooth s t y l e of dancing. Headington Quarry now has a boy's team, coached by t h e Squire , Bob Grant.

We a l s o v i s i t e d Baapton-&n Whitnonday t o s e e t h e Bampton s i d e s ( t h e r e a r e now t h r e e ) , bu t d i d n o t s t a y t o dance i n t h e evening because of t h e Readington'Quarry tour . Although Bampton is f u l l o f a o r r i s dancers from a l l over on Whitnonday, it is t r a d i t i o n a l that they stay i n c i v i l i a n c l o t h e s and do not dance untilmeevening, l eav ing the day's dancing t o t h e Bampton men.

Our next h o s t s were Windon M, with whom we spent an evening dancing a t The B e l l , a pub a t a small v i l l a g e ou ta ide Of Swindon. Ons o f Swindonas f a v o r i t e dances is Coronation 3ig, done by t h r e e of t h e i r s i d e and t h r e e of t h e i r guests. Af te r each chorus, t h e set r o t a t e s 1/6 of a r e v o l u t i o n and 11 man, who is c r o s s i n t h e top, h a s t o chug a p in t . Every dancer g e t s t o chug one p l n t , and t h e winner is t h e one who does it f a s t e s t . The p r i z e is another p i n t (urp) . A f t e r much jockeying t o avoid the honor, Boswrth, Sayler , and -son were pressed i n t o se rv ice . The vinner was, t o genera l astonishment, one of t h e PMM, but t h e winner (Uaaon) generously donated h i s p r i z e t o the musician (Tobia8).

W e made t h e b e a u t i f u l Cotswold town o f Stow-an-the-Wold o-ux headquarters for t h e last few days b e f o r e t h e Ring Meeting a t Thaxted. While t h e r e we teured w i t h S h e r b r n e MM, 'led by t h e

- = 7 $,..*, , .; . - z 3 - * . 1 - . I - .

.. . Qw ~ A Q . stcrndbr d a ~ ~ i ~ s : ~ k ~ ~ b ! d i p g t o n * ~ i g h i a r ; b b y and the u~tqn-on-Seyern :s&iek , D p a c ~ , .bW*wa did PE*~Y ye1 4.7 also .by Desa;cae D & b & &iCbfiad, ~ : O ' B e l l $ ~ gd6hgth.01d FOW Dan-; and BU~kngIl Quem!4i-* W1Cgh-t.

rag covered jacke ts a l l of whi p i r i t of t h e p a s t but not t

The l i m i t e d danc

musicians. Their average age was s a i d t o be 103 years. In 1652 a team from @roseley i n Shropstrire caused a dis turbance a t an A l e

1 House a t M r d l e y . I n 1614 t h e i n h a b i t a n t s o f Longdon (about 9 miles e a s t of Ledbury) e n t e r t a i n e d themselves with May games morrices and dancing upon t h e Sabbath Day i n t h e summer s e t a s i d e for such purposes. A team were expected i n Shrewsbury, espec ia l - l y a t Christmas and i n t h e sunmer, sometime e a r l i e r than t h i s . I t would seem from t h i 6 m d o t h e r evidence t h a t t h e morris dan was f a i r l y widely performed i n t h e a r e a i n t h e seventeenth cen

I ury a t Christmas b u t perhaps more s o i n t h e summer.

jr* p a d

sx 3- The Form of the Dance _---&

,

t h e t h r e e countiea. I t is from t h e s e sources we get t h e form and f i g u r e s of t h e dance a s it is performed a t Christmas and t h e r e i s no doubt t h a t it served a s a usefu l source of e x t r a income, i n those days, f o r t h e performance a t t h e f e s t i v a l season.

The dance seems to have o r i g i n a t e d a s a longways set (two rows of men), a l though s e v e r a l c o l l e c t e d performances, l i k e those a t Brimfield i n North Herefordshire , and Brornsberrow Heath near Ledbury, were i n t h e i r l a t t e r days performed i n a s i n g l e l ine .

The number of performers has not seemed to be of g r e a t importance. Unlike most Cotswold Morris dances with sets of s i x men, nos t Border dances were performed i n longways sets wi th mul t ip les of f o u r men o f t e n t o t a l l i n g twelve men i n a l l . Most Of t h e dance* a r e performed vigorously with s h o r t s t i c k s , t h e except ions being t h e handkerchief dances from Upton, Pershore and Evesham and t h e s tepp ing dance from Bromsbarrow Heath.

The Dress -%!= -> 5- Apart from t h e Hereford S ide of 1609, t h a t seemed t o h a v e s

- " . - had a benevolent sponsor, t h e normal p a t t e r n of d r e s s has been t o a - - _ - cover white s h i r t s o r o l d c l o t h e s with b r i g h t l y coloured o r gaudy- rags. In some c a s e s it gave t h e e f f e c t of an o l d fashioned rag2& mat, a s a t Cradly, i n o t h e r s t h e r ibbons were more sparse ly- s c a t t e r e d , a s a t Upton-upon-Severn. Sometimes r o s e t t e s and sashes were added. Headwear seems t o have var ied from none a t a l l t o s o f t h a t s covered with r e g s t o t o p h a t s o r bowlers.

-- A t t h e t u r n of t h e cen tury some of t h e s i d e s had discarded - ' t h e t r a d i t i o n a l costume and wore fancy c lo thes . An i n t e r e s t i n g

- ' h i s t o r y of t h e Much Wenlock s i d e tells us t h a t t h e dancers wore t a g s of c l o t h on t h e i r o rd inary c l o t h e s , l a t e r t h e c l o t h was --- - exchanged f o r paper which was set a l i g h t by young mischievious r y 7-L.9-515-

,&-.--< lads. F i n a l l y t a g s were abandoned f o r fahcy d r e s s reminiscent of 3 --;. I,--- 5 c i r c u s clowns and some dressed a s women. A recen t informant who'$-

danced with ano ther siae a t Much Wenlock recons t ruc ted the* - costume on t h e o l d p a t t e r n and was unaware of any changes to??&

. - - . fancy dress . - . - - - -.-> , - Blackened Paces - . - -

-- - - - --. Mny of t h e s i d e v o r e b e l l s and a common f e a t u r e was t h e 3 - - black face. A once comlpon theory f o r t h i s was t h a t t h e Morris,..& - o r Moorish dancing, was brought over by t h e Moors and hence the;Q2$ -. - - - dancers imi ta ted t h e i r dark complexion, bu t i t seems more likely.--- - t h a t , i f indeed t h e word is der ived from Moorish a t a l l , i t was

used a s a descr So t h e black f compared t o o t world, it f i t s of t h e t rouble

-. cases, it seem surv ive i n t h e been held loca blacked your f a c

.p t ive term, with re fe rence t o t h e black faces. Ice is l i k e l y t o be a much o lder f e a t u r e and i f ier forms of men's r i t u a I dance throughout t h e .n with t h e genera l theme of anonymity. In view :aken t o black t h e face , and t h e hands i n some I remarkable t h a t such a f e a t u r e should still )order area. The general b e l i e f seems t o have . l y t h a t you a r e no t a morris dancer un less you !.

and tabor being the oldeit forms of accompaniment. in -the nineteenth century however the musicians seen to have increased and in the area there 'are many references to percua~ion instruments of various types. All of the following instrurnta have been featured: fiddle, accordfan. nelodien, concertina, tambourines, triangles, drums, bones, tin whistlesr flutes, pipe and tabor.

The tunes use6 were usually claimed to be of no great importance, but several villeges used ~imilar tunes. 'Not for Joem in several different versions commonly features in the dances of North Herefordshire and South Shropshire. Also singing 2-y-ii often accompanied the dance in these areas. .>. %;_ .. - .

- 2 3 Where the Daaces Came from t+ir ~ z r (

Nineteenth and mentieth Century sides have been noted before 1936 in the towns and villages shown on the map.

REPORTED SlGHTlNCS OF MORRIS SIDES BETWEEN 1100 AND 1940

Silurian Border Morris - About the Side Silurian Border Morrismen of Ledbury were formed in 1969 and

at first performed dances mainly from the Cotswold traditions, together with a few local dances. Later they concentrated their efforts on the traditional ritual dances of their own area of Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire, and are no regarded as the leading exponents of these traditions, sometime referred to as Welsh Border Uorris.

In October 1979 their dances were filmed for the Archives o the Uorris Ring, and their services have been utilised for Uorri instructionals, including those for the Uo West Midlands Polk Federation and the Uorris Ring have also published material on Border Mo on work produced by the side.

The side has been fully involved in the Bronyard Polk Pestival, the largest weekend kind in the country, and as individual responsible for the organization of numerous the area including song clubs, ceilidhs and bands. There are close links between the Uorris side and Modewort, a border country dance display team and a local clog dance group called Doglogerum.

Just as AMN was finally about to emerge from the word processor in completed form, the next round of designs from Barbara Prentiss-O'Rourke arrived. The work included the mailing panel and two mastheads. Barbara, formerly of Rose L Thorn

The American Uorris Newsletter is published four times per y G , typically in April, July, October, and January. Individual subSCri~tions are available for $4.00 par year (overseas subscribe;^ should add $4.00 for air mail postage). Team subscriptions are $2.50 per copy for a minimum of six copies sent to the same address. Back issues are available for 5.70 each plus postage. Please make sure all checks or money orders are made payable to American Harris Newsletter. Copy deadlines for submission of articles, m r s , or team news are the fifteenth of the month preceding publication. After that date, contact us by telephone at (612)379-2286 (Steve Parker) or (612) 721-6750 (Jim Brickweddel .

Members of the editorial staff include J-a C. Brickwcdde, Lynn Uadow Dennis, and Stephen Parker.

I would like to subscribe to the American Morris Nevsletter. This is a new renewed s u m t i o n . I have enclosed my c h e c k money o r d n payable to Amercian Morris Hewelotter. nailing address2 American Uorrie m t t e r , c/o Stephen Parker, 438 R . E . ath St., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55413.

ADDRESS 011 COOB

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CO-EDITOR STEVE PARKER, 438 N.E. 4171 STRER, MINNEAPOLIS, MN 5541 3

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